I believe that all the characters are aspects of ourselves. We are all of them: the miller’s daughter, the miller, the king, the faithful servant, the baby, and Rumpelstiltskin. And too, we are the straw and the gold.

I’ve been working on my NanoWriMo novel in process, Witch on a Witch Hunt, and too busy to think about my Blog, so I’m posting a small excerpt. Critiques welcome.

They drove away in silence. James driving and Jade deep in her own thoughts wondered how Chadak fit in and was startled by her thought. Chadak. Chadak? Why had his name come to mind? Bits and pieces of whispered conversations from her youth drifted unbidden to the surface of her mind.

“Unnatural, they are – evil. They play with life as if it has no meaning and she was playing with that dark child of hers.”

“Shhhh, she’ll hear.”

“No, she sleeps. She must leave here soon”

“But, she’s so young, she’s my baby, her father will be devastated. Surely they are no threat.”

“I have spoken, it is law, and you have known the day would come. Jadeah has reached the age of reason. It is time, and not a moment too soon.”

“Yes, Nana. When?”

“Soon. soon. She is strong and she bested him. Would you risk her life to the ire of those without conscience? No, – not yet. It is too soon. She is better at the School. It is time.”

“But Nana, you’re strong, you’re on the Council. Why do you fear Morana and this boy of hers?”

“Fear? No, child. I know her and knowing her and her kind, I prepare me and mine and protect them from the dark side. That boy is but a child, but a child raised in the dark is destined to walk dark paths. ‘As the twig is bent…’ Ask me no more. To speak of evil feeds its power.”

James’s stared at the road and mulled over the interviews at the university. This Kane wasn’t really intimately known by anyone. He was a loner. He spurned social invitations. None of his colleagues knew what his experiments were about. They could only point to his published papers. James would review those tonight. He glanced aside at Jade sitting beside him. A small crease above and between her eyes were the only signs that some deep thought disturbed her. “What is it, Jade?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, I was a million miles away. Did you find anything out at the University? How does research on nanotechnology fit in? I reviewed all his papers. The possibilities are endless if his theories are correct.”

I’ve got another cold and I always resort to the old tried and true 4.

1. Does chicken soup cure the common cold? No, but it sure eases the symptoms. One Mayo clinic study I read years ago found that it promoted the flow of phlegm so ridding the body of the virus quicker. I’ve had a crockpot of it going for 2 days now and I’ve been sipping the broth throughout the day and replenishing the broth in the pot. An hour before supper, I might add some vegetables, more onions, more garlic and turn it up before actually serving myself more than just the broth.

Chicken SoupBrown some chicken parts bone-in (Thighs, legs, wings…)
Add 1 chopped onion and sauté til golden
Add 3-4 smashed and finely minced garlic cloves and sauté a few minutes (don’t brown)
Add spices and stir briefly (cinnamon, salt, pepper, cumin, dash of cayenne, and a bay leaf)
Immediately deglaze pot with white wine, vermouth, or chicken broth and water to fill pot.
Add favorite veggies only an hour before a meal, if you want so they’ll be a dente and not mush.
Simmer til done.

2. Does a hot toddie cure the common cold? No, but it also eases the symptoms and I personally believe it speeds recovery. My earliest memory of this particular remedy goes back to early childhood.

Hot Toddie

1 hot whiskey
Juice of one lemon
1 generous tablespoon of honey
8-12 ounces of boiling water or tea.

Sip slowly, then wrap up warmly and go to sleep. As a child, I assure you I went to sleep and woke up wet from sweat and ready to go to school. As I’ve grown older, it takes 2-3 such toddies to, but the effect is the same.

3. Do you really have to drink so many fluids and why? Yes you do and the reasons are many. The body loses fluids in a variety of ways: constant blowing of nose, fever and sweating, mouth-breathing. Remember teas are okay if herbal and not diuretic – water is the best. Flavor it with some juice concentrates, or stir in some frozen OJ or Apple Juice.

4. Does the adage starve a cold, feed a fever have any merit? I know that feeding a fever makes sense as we’re burning more calories. But the starve a cold part probably comes from the fact that appetite disappears when you have a cold, or at least mine does. I notice I eat less and on the upside, I drop a few pounds. This close to the over-indulgent holidays, that’s a welcome reward for surviving the cold.

Who hasn’t read On the Road? Kerouac understood, as I hope you do, that each of us is the hero, in my case heroine, of our own story. My journal is my book, and sometimes in recollection, I am truly amazed.

simple notebook pen
soliloquy on the page
journal diary

a day once removed
to march cadence on blue lines
fill each empty page

siphoning angst hurt
experience clears the mind
for new adventure

My journal is the running memoir of my life, my confidant, my Wailing Wall, canvas for creative thoughts, and so much more.

“Never mind the misses and the stumbles…” “The habit of writing for my eyes only is good practice, it loosens the ligaments.” – Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf’s quote hits home for me, and if you would write, I hope for you. There is something so freeing about writing just for yourself with no deadlines. It doesn’t need to be perfect; it’s a conversation with and exploration of yourself for yours eyes only now or forever unless you decide to share it.

Saying you want to write is not enough, you must write it. The truth is so much writing is just mental gymnastics. A skater skates, a harpist harps, a writer writes. It is the practice that perfects.

Day after day, with no one to see, no one to hear, and no one to applaud, I rise and go to my practice. I write in my journal.

William Wordsworth wrote: “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart”

I’ve filled the pages of my journal since I was a child: daily observations, traumas & dramas, poetry, essays, stories and more since I was a child. I didn’t realize how much publishable material languished there in my own journal until one day.

One day I was rereading an old journal when I realized that one story was practically complete, so why not type it up and send it out. That story was “Rain” back in 2004. What a thrill it was to see that story so dear me, not only published but resonating with so many readers.

That day I started paying attention to what I wrote in my journal and noting in the margin whether it would make a good poem or essay or story or a character in a book. That decision has since stood me in good stead. Most of what I’ve published originated inthe pages of my journal.

I’ve often wondered about those folks who use the excuse of writer’s block for not writing. Yes, I think it is an excuse akin to a certain in-law of mine who opines, I can’t cook. My response to her is if you can read and follow instructions, you can cook. My response to writers or wanna be writers. If you can put pen to page, fingers to keys, have a thought in your head, you can write.

I write everyday in my journal – that’s a start, and then there’s the Blog challenges, NanoWriMo, and poetry contests, etc. They all have deadlines, so I make the commitment and on top of my daily journal, I write.

It’s day 6 of the BlogHer Blog-a-Day for November (note: they throw that gauntlet down every month), and I’m on track.

And

I’m still plodding away on my NanoNovel and have 17,545 words to-date, so I’m on track to get my 50,000 words done by and hopefully before November 30. I plan to do heavy edit by/before December 15, so I can take advantage of Amazon’s offer to NanoWriMo winners (anyone who reaches 50,000 words) to publish 2 free hard copies of their novels. I planned on uploading my finished novel to their Kindle platform anyway, but oh, to see the actual book in print (every author’s dream).

I’m encouraged by the sales of my non-fiction e-book published on Amazon in late 2012 – How to Journal and How to Publish from Your Journal. While not a best seller it is selling and yay! It’s making money. I opened my P.O. box this morning and amid the bills, 1 rejected manuscript and the detritus called junk mail, was the check – a royalty check from Amazon.com on my book. It was not large, but oh it’s such a nice feeling to get paid for doing something you enjoy. As I have not promoted the book except for a few Blog posts and an Amazon affiliate link on my Blogs, I’m rather amazed and more than a little pleased.

I like the Amazon affiliate link, as it allows me to link all to the books I review and even those I just like and think everyone should read, and in return I make a few cents commission for having done so. It adds up over time.